US Airways 100% Bonus on Purchased and Gifted Miles is Back

Leave it to US Airways’ marketing genuises to say that a mileage purchase promo that runs from June 1 through July 31 is “for one month only” — but the bonus indeed runs two months.

The maximum bonus is 50,000 miles for buying 50,000 miles, and 100,000 miles gets you business class fro the US to Europe (90,000 gets you business class from the US to North Asia including Hong Kong).

This year US Airways raised the price of miles from 2.5 cents apiece to 2.75 cents apiece, and also the mileage cost of several awards. So we’ve gone from $1000 in purchased miles for business class to Europe to $1400 for the same. Still, with the ability to redeem Star Alliance awards on so many Lufthansa routes so easily it’s still a good deal for many — especially because US Airways permits you to put an award on hold for 3 days without the miles in your account, and then you go about purchasing the miles.

One caveat, back in November and December the offer required that an account be open for a week before being able to earn the bonus. I don’t see that requirement in the terms and conditions of this offer. But if it were me until I had verified this I would make sure my US Airways Dividend Miles account was open for 8 days before purchasing miles — even if the terms and conditions don’t say it, and presumably you’d be able to successfully argue for the miles — there’s some chance that the previous programming for the offer remains in place.

In April and May US Airways was offering double miles on transfers. Indeed, as Flyertalk’s ArizonaGuyobserves, US Airways has offered a 100% bonus on purchases, transfers, or both in 9 of the past 12 months. They’re monetizing these miles, scooping in cash, and the fact that they continue to offer these bonuses suggests that it’s successful.

More From View from the Wing

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

[…] The memberhsip guide says “The required number of miles for award travel must be posted to your account prior to requesting an award reservation” but I have never had any problem holding an award without miles in an account. I place it on a 3-day hold, and then can purchase or transfer miles (such as via one of their regular generous purchase bonus offers). […]

Comments

>>Indeed, as Flyertalk’s ArizonaGuy observes, US Airways has offered a 100% bonus on purchases, transfers, or both in 9 of the past 12 months. They’re monetizing these miles, scooping in cash, and the fact that they continue to offer these bonuses suggests that it’s successful.<<

One could counter that as they have been essentially "printing currency," there is possibly inflation ahead. This could rear its head in the form of decreased availability of awards or increased mileage levels for redemption – which, of course, will then have people screaming about the devaluation of their miles.

I really think that in a lot of these instances, the handwriting really is on the wall (ahhhhem, Hyatt!). While I earn and burn my miles regularly (as I know you do, too), it is people who hoard (or are saving miles for an aspirational trip) who are hurt by these types of things – and then subsequently feel like they have been duped.

I guess the upshot of that is that reading your blog is a little like watching CNBC for mileage hoarders!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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